


Swimming Lesson

by veridium_bye



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Fluff, I just wanna say that queers who cant swim UNITE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 16:25:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16391126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veridium_bye/pseuds/veridium_bye
Summary: During their time serving in the Plains, Olivia comes face to face with one of the many dreaded talents she as a Circle Mage was never allowed to have: swimming. Cassandra’s offer to introduce her to the skill tests her still-developing trust in her.





	Swimming Lesson

**Author's Note:**

> This has always been a trope of Mage experiences that I’ve been interested in writing fluff for, and I also just love any opportunity Olivia gets to be out of her element (whoops).

She stood with her toes just submerged enough to be freezing a bit, the water gently rolling onto her skin and sending goosebumps up along her legs and arms. Stripped down to her smallclothes, she didn’t have much else to insulate her body temperature with, and the contrasting heat of the day made it all the more shocking to the senses.

She stood quietly, arms crossed at her chest with her hands cupping her shoulders. Her hair waved and billowed in the breeze surrounding them, as she gazed dead-pan at her distorted reflection in the shallow water.

The darkness that awaited in the depth of the lake was a bit unnerving.

“Are you ready?” she could hear a resolute, stern voice come from behind her. Her mind then snapped back into the present, and she blinked a few times.

“Huh?” she replied, turning and gazing back over her bare shoulder to see Cassandra, also down to her smallclothes but with the addition of her light tunic shirt. The Seeker was never one to be underprepared, even if it was just her and her woman out in the Exalted Plains taking a break to bathe in the water before returning to camp from a day of scouting, aiding the injured Imperial soldiers, and overseeing requisitions.

At Olivia’s skittish response, Cassandra tilted her head. “The water..?” she guided as she arrived at her side.

“Oh, yes. Um. Quite ready,” Olivia shook her head, returning her eyes to the water.

The Seeker watched her for a moment, taking in the shy skepticism in her face. The way her shoulders were curved inward and her body standing tall like a rigid flagpole. Olivia was nimble and flexible – this was clearly not her comfort zone.

“Is something the matter?” Cassandra coaxed.

“I…no!” Olivia grinned, trying to put on a façade. “I am simply cold.”

“Are you certain? You look as if a demon is about to erupt out of the water and attack,” Cassandra replied with a crooked grin.

“No! I do not!” Olivia raised a brow. “I am simply sensitive to changes in temperature. That is what happens when you have an elemental specialty such as pyromancy. Cold is difficult for me.”

A moment passed wherein Olivia stared off at the horizon with stoicism, meanwhile Cassandra was staring at her, trying to decipher nonverbally just what the matter was. When it passed, she took a breath and adjusted her approach, folding her arms and shifting her weight between her hips.

“I understand more about Mage idiosyncrasies than you give me credit for,” she mused.

“Oh? Do I?”

“Yes, Olivia. For example, it is my understanding that Mages are discouraged from learning certain activities. The prohibitions vary from Circle to Circle, but I have heard anything from weaponry techniques to certain life skills had been banned–

Olivia interjected then, “Or, to provide them with a method of escape—”

“–Like swimming.”

The tension fluxed in the air as the root of the issue was at last excavated. Olivia eyed Cassandra from her periphery, looking like she had stage fright. She did not know what to expect from such a revelation; perhaps Cassandra would make fun, or be dismissive. They had only been romantically entangled for no more than a month or two, and her being dispatched to the Plains marked their first time being out abroad for mission efforts at the same time. So far, it had been rather wonderful, but every relationship had its growing pains regardless of their respective duties for saving the world.

Cassandra, though, had become more proficient at surprises since letting Olivia into her life. She offered a compassionate grin, before looking back out at the water.

“When I learned to swim, my brother was my teacher. I was scared of the deep area of the lake, so he carried me on his back until I became confident enough to hold my head above water. That method proved most successful.”

Olivia’s lips parted as she turned to face her from the side. “You…are you suggesting…?”

“Only if it would be something you are comfortable with.”

“Are you sure? I…I do not know if I’ll panic and pull you under, or if I’ll slip, or—”

“Oliva,” Cassandra cut her off, but with gentle care and not impatience, “do you trust me?”

Closing her mouth and raising her brow, Olivia looked down at her submerged feet. Her toes wiggled anxiously underwater, feeling the rough pressure of the stones underneath their weight.

“Yes…” she mumbled.

Without much ceremony, Cassandra reached and took hold of her hand and began to lead her further into the water’s depths. Olivia kept one arm to her chest as she was guided. As the water crept up her calves, and then her knees, and eventually her thighs, she could feel the nervousness in her stomach increase. The cold didn’t help either, and she shivered a bit.

Once they had made it to a certain point, Cassandra turned to face her.

“Are you ready?”

Olivia took a breath, her chest raising and stiffened. She nodded a couple times rather than audibly reply. Cassandra smiled and released her hand, turning around and exposing her back to her.

Olivia stared for a moment of hesitation, her body slightly rocking back and forth with the water current. When Cassandra held her arms out, she realized that this was actually going to happen, and it scared her. She closed her eyes harshly, not wanting to come across as a flippant coward as she place her hands on Cassandra’s shoulders and hopped up. She gripped her legs tightly around her sides, and felt further secure when the Seeker hooked her hands underneath them.

One swift push up adjusted Olivia’s position on her back, and Cassandra’s hunch that she wasn’t much to carry proved vindicated.

Olivia wrapped her arms around her neck and tucked her mouth and nose against her neck, her eyes still closed.

“Alright,” Cassandra sighed, “we are going to go in deeper now. Is that alright?”

She felt Olivia nod against her neck, once again not saying a word. It was most unusual for Olivia to be rendered speechless in the face of a challenge, but there was a first for everything.

As Cassandra waded the water, going in deeper and deeper until the water line was at her waist, she could feel Olivia’s legs and arms constrict.

“Do not be frightened,” she smirked. She then continued stepping forward, assuming Olivia would not open her eyes until she was informed that they had arrived to some destination in the middle of the water.

Reaching now to the lower half of her chest, Cassandra halted.

“Olivia, open your eyes.”

“No.”

“Olivia.”

Olivia whimpered a bit, a reaction to both the feeling of water to her chest and the chill it sent through her body. At least, she bit her lip and opened her eyes. The water was deep blue and ominous to her, but it was dormant in its perils beyond that. She raised her head and began to scan the waterline around them, her arms softening their grip ever-so-slightly.

A moment for her to take it all in.

“Is that is?” she asked, sighing, “is that all? Can we go back now?”

Cassandra chuckled and held onto her. “No, we must go underwater.”

“What?!” Olivia’s loosed grip promptly corrected itself, and she began to panic. “No! Maker, Cassandra, how do I even—”

“You hold your breath, and you go. I will not let go of you. You need to trust me, Olivia.”

“But, what if I open my mouth?”

“…The idea is that you do not open your mouth, my Love.”

Olivia groaned, hiding her face in Cassandra’s shoulder again. “This was the worst idea I have ever had. I blame you for it. You enable me to be foolish.”

Cassandra shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Olivia, I asked you on the shore if you trusted me, and you said you did. Am I to believe that trust is conditional?”

Awkward silence as the Seeker called her lover out on her bluff of commitment. Olivia simmered with resentment, not so much for Cassandra, but for the situation as a whole. Eventually, she looked up and out at the surrounding water.

“If I drown, it is your fault,” she muttered.

“And people call me fatalistic,” Cassandra mused, “take a breath.”

Olivia sighed, and then did as she was advised. She took a breath and held it in her mouth, her cheeks puffing out rounded by the reservoir of air. Cassandra waited, and when she heard her go quiet, she gave her no time to back out at the last minute. She plunged down into the water, pulling Olivia’s strict body with her. The water was abrasively icey, but its shock was only a moment’s discomfort.

At her back, she could feel Olivia’s thighs break away and begin to kick outward. She was panicking, but instead of being nervous deadweight, she was putting up a fight. Cassandra opened her eyes and reached her hand to where Olivia’s arms remained crossed her neck, taking hold so as to keep her in contact.

When Olivia’s arms began to let go as well, Cassandra quickly turned around to face her. Her face was scrunched with tension, but she was holding her breath still. Her legs were clearly looking for something to stand on and push her upwards, but her shorter height meant that the depth was more considerable for Olivia than it had been for her woman.

Watching her flail, Cassandra reached and touched her face while her other hand kept hold of her arm.

Feeling her touch, Olivia did something either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish, and opened her eyes. When she did, Cassandra saw that her irises were glowing fiercely. Her magic was responding to the fear and endangerment it perceived from within her. Olivia never knew what it was like to see underwater, and the blurry image of her woman’s face looking back at her as if to comfort her was overwhelming on top of feeling as if she was going to drown.

But, it was Cassandra’s touch, the hand of a careful and trustworthy person, that stilled her panicked heart enough for her to see that she was in fact alive.

After a few more seconds, Olivia’s body calmed, and she kept her eyes locked on Cassandra’s as they became more steadily visible to her. Then, she could see Cassandra smile, bubbles of air escaping her mouth. This made her grin, though as she felt the pressure of possibly losing her collected air, she stopped herself.

Once it had been fully realized that there was nothing to be afraid of, they remained suspended for brief, fleeting time in the water. The world, life, and time all took a backseat.

But, air could only be held for so long. Cassandra took the initiative and reached her hands for Olivia’s waist, grabbing at either side and pulling her up with her back to the surface.

The both gasped for more air as they were released from the water, Olivia a bit more ungracefully as she coughed up water. She did manage to wrap her arms and legs back around her lover’s neck where they belonged, not yet fully comfortable with keeping her head above the surface.

Cassandra expected as much, reaching and holding around her waist with one arm as the other waved out at her side to maintain some buoyancy.

Once they had found themselves safely above water, Cassandra smirked and gazed at Olivia’s soaked face and knotted hair, breathing a bit heavily as she regained her rhythm.

“Thoughts?” she asked, a bit smug with being proven right.

Olivia spit into the water, coughing one last time. Once that was dealt with, she managed a cheeky smile.

“I did it! I didn’t die!” she giggled with relief, “It is still so cold! Maker!”

Cassandra chuckled as the water ebbed and flowed around their shoulders. She rested her hands back on Olivia’s thighs. “Does that mean your opinion on water has changed?”

“No,” Olivia teased, her nose crinkling, “but it means I will not wreak of sweat for the third day in a row!”

“You clearly have your priorities, then,” Cassandra’s eyes narrowed. “And what of your trust in me?”

Olivia bit her lip, feeling her lover’s body hold onto her with protective strength. Water or no water, being skin-on-skin with her was always a pleasant experience, one that she could never get enough of.

Sweetly, she leaned in and kissed her, the water-soaked sloppiness of it adding an air of reckless romance.

Cassandra returned the favor, and as they kissed, she spun them around in the water. Olivia’s arms wrapped closer around her neck and shoulders. The way she tasted, the way she gave in even when her mind said no, the way she went along with it. The kiss was all the answer she needed.

After a moment of bliss, Olivia pulled away, but kept her lips deliciously close to hers. She grinned with a sly expression.

“Can we do it again?” she whispered playfully.

Cassandra, at first curious as to why she would stop such a wonderful kiss, smiled at the request.

“Of course,” she replied, “take another breath.”

Then, at once, she put her lips back to Olivia’s, kissing her with open-mouthed hunger to taste her. Olivia giggled under her breath as they re-collided. Then, with a secured supply of air and trust, they went back under.


End file.
